Just Another Rice Ball
by J-Rocker Girl
Summary: Hatori, Shigure, and Ayame find a strange case in a rather quiet, detatched girl
1. Default Chapter

Chapter 1  
  
~  
  
Phenomenon  
  
~  
  
Kaigara walked up the public library's steps, not really paying attention to where she was going. It was just before the Finals in her last year of high school. Everyone was talking about their class president and his strange antics. She had never met Ayame Sohma, but right now she was completely concentrated on studying.  
  
"Oh, gomen ne," she said as she ran into someone she hadn't noticed until then. "Finals have been coming up and I haven't gotten much sleep lately--- -" she looked up, a little confused.  
  
The person she had run into----a classmate of hers, Shigure Sohma----had a completely surprised look on his face, and his two friends looked equally surprised, and for some reason, she could tell they looked scared as well.  
  
"Shigure didn't..." the silver-haired one started  
  
His dark-haired friend put a hand over the other's mouth, unable to say a word himself.  
  
"Is anything wrong?" she asked.  
  
"Before we jump to any conclusions, let's ask her a few questions," Shigure said to his friends. "Ah, you're Kaigara Gentou, aren't you? Yes, now I remember, we were paired up on a project for History."  
  
"Oh, you remembered?" she asked with a smile.  
  
"Maybe we should go to a quieter place to find out exactly what just happened," his dark-haired friend, still dumbstruck.  
  
"D-did I do something wrong?" she asked.  
  
"Don't worry, Kaigara-San," Shigure assured her, his smile never slipping. "It's more what you didn't do than what you did."  
  
~  
  
"Before we get started I suppose we owe you an explanation," Shigure's silver-haired friend started. "I'm Ayame Sohma, at your service, and this is Hatori Sohma. This started in ancient times when our family was put under a curse to ask any girl that ran into us a random questionnaire set on by the regal god----"  
  
Ayame stopped as Hatori cleared his throat.  
  
"Right, thank you for lying through your teeth, Ayame," Shigure said.  
  
"Any time, dear cousin."  
  
"Do you have any relations to the Sohma family?" Hatori asked.  
  
Kaigara blinked. What a strange question. "No. My father died before I was born and my mother died when I was about three. I've been doing genealogy research and the Sohma family isn't mentioned once."  
  
"That's..."Ayame started.  
  
"A phenomenon?" Shigure finished. "A strange glitch in history? A miracle?"  
  
"Um, thank you, Shigure. I wouldn't go as far as to say it was a miracle, but I think she gets the point," Hatori shaking his head. "What we really should be worried about is, should we tell her? Shigure, you seem to know her best among the rest of us. Is she trustworthy?"  
  
"Shigure-San, what's going on?" she asked, getting more confused by the second.  
  
All three cousins got very silent and turned to her. Suddenly, she realized what they were so worked up about.  
  
"Oh! You mean the...curse?"  
  
"You know about it?" Hatori asked.  
  
"I read about it, and watching the behavior of the Sohmas for so many years, I figured it must have been you."  
  
Shigure let out a chuckle. "You shouldn't keep to yourself for so long, Kaigara-San. You make very interesting conversation."  
  
"What do you mean by our 'behavior'?" Hatori asked.  
  
"Oh, over the years, Shigure has been the 'dog', you've been the 'dragon', and Ayame has been the 'snake'."  
  
"Very observant," Ayame said happily.  
  
"Actually, I think we were loud and annoying enough for her to over-hear," Shigure said with a sweat-drop. "Well, I think she's told herself."  
  
"I really didn't mean to run into you, Shigure-San, I've just been completely out of it lately. I don't know why you didn't transform either."  
  
"Should we tell Akito?" Hatori asked.  
  
"Maybe we should wait and see what happens," Ayame suggested.  
  
"Sounds reasonable. I think Akito would actually be annoyed if he found out a crowd of people in a public place DIDN'T find out about it," Shigure said with a nervous smile.  
  
"Well, I'm sorry if I caused you any trouble. It's getting late, I should be going home."  
  
"Before you go," Hatori said as she started off. She stopped and turned around. "You still know about the Zodiac Curse. Swear you won't tell anyone."  
  
"I haven't told for as long as I've known, but I still swear" she reassured him, turning around to go again.  
  
She stopped in mid-step as she felt an arm go under her own. "I think since we've scared her, we at least can give her an escort home, don't you think, Aya? Ha'ri?" Shigure asked.  
  
"Of course. It IS getting late," Ayame concluded, taking her other arm. "Besides, it would be a pleasure!"  
  
"Sure, why not?" Hatori added, taking her books.  
  
"If you don't mind, of course," Shigure half asked.  
  
"Ano...I wouldn't want to impose..."  
  
"Not to worry, Kaigara-San, we're the ones imposing," Ayame said with a giggle.  
  
"Eh?"  
  
"I suppose that's Ayame's straight-forward way of saying 'We insist'," Shigure explained.  
  
"Kaigara-San," Hatori asked, walking down streets, trying to get to her apartment building. "We're apparently going to meet again. We should get to know you better. Who's your closest friend?"  
  
"My imaginary dog. His name is Anji."  
  
"That's joke right?"  
  
"Heh, hai. Actually, you three would probably the first I've ever counted as friends. For some reason, everyone seems to avoid me. "  
  
"I wonder why that is, you're very interesting," Ayame said with a chuckle.  
  
"Well, whatever reason they may have, we'll take care of you, Kaigara-San," Shigure assured her.  
  
"Um, thank you?" she said a little nervously. "This is my apartment. I suppose I'll see you at school?" she asked after Hatori handed her books back and she reached the building's main entrance.  
  
"O yasumi," Ayame said with a sweeping bow.  
  
Hatori gave a slight wave.  
  
"Ja, Kai-San," Shigure finished as the cousins walked off.  
  
She stopped before she went in. Kai? Isn't that what her mother used to call her? She shrugged it off and went inside. 


	2. Anji

Chapter 2  
  
~~  
  
Anji  
  
~~  
  
AN: okay, simple question: Tohru/Kyo or Tohru/Yuki?? I like the Cat and I like the Rat. And they both make a cute couple with her. So, I'm indifferent. Just tell me what you want with that. Domo, Minna-San:) oh, and the first scene isn't supposed to be biased on those choices, it's just the best scene that came to my mind.  
  
~~  
  
Tohru and Yuki were sitting in the living room working their English homework.  
  
"Okay," Yuki started. "Let's start with animals. Chicken."  
  
"Niwatori," Tohru said with her usual smile.  
  
"Bird."  
  
"Tori."  
  
"Leopard."  
  
"Hyo."  
  
"Owl."  
  
"Fukurou."  
  
"Hawk."  
  
"Taka."  
  
"Cat."  
  
"Kyo!"  
  
Yuki lifted an eyebrow. "I suppose that works. Rat or mouse."  
  
"Nezumi."  
  
"Nah," Kyo said, walking in. "You forgot a word. Kuso."  
  
"Well," Yuki growled. "That makes ONE of you."  
  
"Nandako?"  
  
"There's a dog," Tohru said out of the blue.  
  
"You heard me coming down the hall?" Shigure said with a laugh.  
  
"No, there's a dog outside."  
  
He shrugged and started working on manuscripts.  
  
Everyone else turned their heads, and sure enough, there was a bark.  
  
"Maybe it's that random mutt that comes up to the porch every now and then," Kyo suggested.  
  
"No, this dog is bigger, baka," Yuki retorted.  
  
"Anji, what did you want to show me?" a woman's voice asked from outside.  
  
"Can I help you?" Yuki asked, opening the door.  
  
"Yes, for some reason my dog refuses to leave your porch," a red- haired woman (AN: um, that's supposed to be Kenshin-like red, not Kyo- like. Just thought I'd let you know.) explained. "Ano...do you think I could let him in and show me...whatever he wants to show me?"  
  
"Hm," Shigure mused to himself. "Anji...and that voice sounds familiar too. But where have I heard it before?" He shrugged and went back to work.  
  
"Alright, ma'am, I'll just let Anji explore until he finds what he's looking for," Yuki said, letting the enormous dog inside.  
  
Everyone watched as the huge brown, gray-spotted dog calmly walked in. 'He probably sniffed out Shigure,' Kyo and Yuki thought.  
  
Sure enough, the dog went straight to the distracted man and nudged his arm. "Oh, hello there," Shigure greeted the dog with scratch behind the ears.  
  
"Shigure-San?" the lady asked. "Long time no see."  
  
"Ah, Kai-San!" Shigure said, turning around. "Is this the concrete version of Anji?"  
  
She laughed. "Hai. This is my imaginary dog, Anji."  
  
"What the heck are you two going on about?" Kyo asked.  
  
"He doesn't look too imaginary to me," Tohru noticed, patting the dog's head with a smile.  
  
"What breed is he?" Yuki asked with a confused look.  
  
"He's half wolf hound and half Siberian husky," she said. "Well, it was nice seeing you again, Shigure-San. Nice meeting your...this may sound rather strange, but who are they?"  
  
"This is Tohru, our live-in housekeeper and close friend."  
  
"She probably saves your stomachs too, huh?"  
  
"Yup," Kyo said. "Yuki here could burn cereal if he tried."  
  
Yuki rolled his eyes.  
  
"This is Yuki, the Mouse."  
  
Kai slowly nodded. "A fellow Sohma, I see."  
  
"And this is Kyo, the Cat."  
  
"WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO PULL?!" Kyo screamed. "SHE'S NOT A SOHMA!!"  
  
Tohru blinked. "Oh," she said with a smile. "You're just another rice ball in a fruits basket, huh?"  
  
Kai thought for a minute on the metaphor. "Hai."  
  
Yuki got very quiet. "Shigure, who is she?"  
  
"This is Kaigara Gentou. Though, everyone calls her Kai..." He explained. "And she's even more a strange case than Tohru-San."  
  
"How so?" Kyo asked.  
  
"Well, when Aya, Ha'ri, and I were in our last year of high school, she quite accidentally ran into me..."  
  
"And?" Yuki asked.  
  
"Nothing happened," Kai finished.  
  
"You had Hatori erase her memory, didn't you?" Kyo asked.  
  
"No..." Shigure said with a sweat-drop. "Nothing happened. That's it. I didn't transform."  
  
"That IS more unusual than Honda-San," Yuki mused.  
  
"What's even stranger, she already knew we had the curse before we even thought of telling her."  
  
"What are you, some sort of stalker?" Kyo asked.  
  
"Not the last time I checked..." Kai said with a sweat-drop of her own.  
  
"By the way, Kai-San. What brought you around this area?" Shigure asked. "You didn't seem to know where you were exactly."  
  
"Well...just recently my apartment building closed down and now I'm living in a hotel. This is the first day I've stayed there if that tells you how recently. Well, they don't allow dogs. But they said I can keep my things there until I found a place for Anji to stay. So, I decided I could find a nice clear spot in a place away from urban life."  
  
Kyo blinked in confusion. "You've got time to wander like that? What do you do?"  
  
"I'm an artist. Besides, what better place to get inspiration than to the woods, ne?"  
  
"Ano..." Yuki started. "These woods are property of the Sohma family."  
  
"Hm, I seem to be constantly running into the Sohma family, don't I?"  
  
"You too?" Tohru asked.  
  
"Well, Kai-San, you're welcome to stay here," Shigure assured her. "If you don't mind a roommate, of course."  
  
'Don't tell me he's thinking what I think he's thinking,' Yuki thought rather flatly.  
  
'Oh brother,' Kyo thought.  
  
"Well, I don't think Kyo or Yuki would want a roommate, and Tohru-San has studying, work, and housecleaning to keep her occupied. I suppose you'll have stay in my room."  
  
'Yup.'  
  
Everyone turned around at the sound of Anji's growl.  
  
"I don't think Anji-Chan would like that too much, Shigure-San. Maybe we should let him choose. What do you think, Anji-Chan?"  
  
Anji walked over to Tohru and happily wagged his tail. "He's a good judge of character," Yuki said with a smile.  
  
"Hm," Kai mused. "I still have to go get my things from the hotel."  
  
"Not to worry, Kai-San," Shigure said, getting up. "Yuki, Kyo, and I will go get your things."  
  
"Sure," Yuki agreed.  
  
"I don't want to," Kyo growled.  
  
Anji answered him with an even stronger growl.  
  
"If I have to," he said, getting up as well.  
  
~~  
  
AN: hey, thanks for the review. I'm gonna cry. That was the first time anyone complimented me on my language skills. Sometimes I would get a review saying I had misspelled a word, or mistranslated it. But, I'm sorry, it's probably from being in Spanish for too long. Anywho, glad you like the fic. I love FB too ^_^ 


	3. Rivalry

Chapter 3  
  
~~~  
  
Rivalry  
  
~~~  
  
AN: you liked Anji-Chan? ~^_^~ he's actually based on my first dog. He was a huge, black German Shepard. He was so sweet...if he knew you. He would protect me from the evil mail man...not that he was evil. Just to say how big he was, we got him when I was three, and by the time I was four, he was about as tall as me. But, alas, he died five years ago. I'm gonna cry again. I miss Bruno. ;_; Anyway, okay, so far I've only gotten one vote for the Kyoru or Yukiru thing, and okay, I'll do a Yukiru pairing.:)  
  
PS: um, sorry for the random pause, I had a Leonardo Da Vinci paper due 12-8 five pages and ten resources. I could probably tell you everything he did, when he did it, and in what city from fifteen different people. Blah. Anyway, so you can see why I didn't do anything. Gomen ne. Also, Yuki and Kyo are getting along too well, you say? Heh, heh, heh, I can fix that. :D  
  
~~~  
  
"Hm," Tohru said, looking at the clock. "It should be lunch time by the time they get back. What do you think we should make for them?"  
  
"Ano..." Kai said, looking around. "Do you have any instant ramen?"  
  
"Eh?"  
  
"I can't exactly cook," she admitted.  
  
"Well, if we're making it together, maybe it won't be as bad as you think."  
  
"You're pretty wise for your age, Tohru-San."  
  
"How did you find such a calm dog?" Tohru asked, glancing at a half- asleep Anji after they had started making lunch with a side of rice balls. (AN: you have a plum in your back! But it's really small. It's like a baby plum. I can hardly see it. ~.? Okay, Kyo, whatever you say.)  
  
"I was walking down the street about two years ago when I saw a sign that said 'Free Puppy'. So, I went to the address, and the owner of the mother dog said that Anji was the only one of the litter that wasn't a purebred Husky. No one else wanted him, so of course I took him home with me," Kai explained.  
  
"So you knew Hatori, Shigure and Ayame during your high school days?" Tohru asked.  
  
"Hai. But, we met right before finals in our senior year. We did go to college, but we only had a few classes together."  
  
"I've only heard a few stories from Ayame and Shigure. How was it like going to school with them?"  
  
"Hah, if I hadn't met them I wouldn't have gone to college. Those three were pretty much my only friends. I was pretty much an anti-social except when it came to them. Um, stories? When I first met them, Aya tried to explain the Zodiac Curse in his own terms, but Hatori stopped him before he could finish."  
  
"What was his version of the curse's history?"  
  
"Something about asking any girl that ran into them a random questionnaire. Then something about a god...then Hatori cut him off."  
  
"Ayame's stories are so interesting. Has he told you how he got to keep his hair long in high school?"  
  
"Many times. I could probably quote them if I thought hard enough."  
  
~~~  
  
"OW!!" Kyo shouted as he, Yuki, and Shigure walked down a path leading to town. "WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT FOR YOU,~~?!"  
  
"Please try to contain you harsh words, we're close enough to town people might hear," Yuki growled.  
  
"WHAT KIND OF REASONING IS THAT?! AND WHERE DO YOU GET OFF KICKING ME TO THE GROUND FOR NO REASON?!" Kyo continued, throwing a full-arm punch, that missed.  
  
"You insulted our guest."  
  
"WHAT?! ALL I DID WAS SAY HER DOG LOOKED STUPID!!"  
  
"He apparently has better common sense than you do."  
  
Shigure shook his head and rolled his eyes as his younger cousins squabbled and fought as they entered town.  
  
"What an interesting little parade we must look like," he commented happily.  
  
"Wha?" Kyo asked, with a very contorted, confused look on his face.  
  
"Yes, you two fighting and trying to beat each other up and then there's me, doing nothing of the sort, looking completely innocent...."  
  
"I wouldn't exactly call you innocent," Yuki answered.  
  
"Illegal, maybe, but not innocent," Kyo added.  
  
"Do you even know how to spell 'illegal'?" Yuki asked.  
  
"SHUT UP, RAT BOY, BEFORE I MAKE YOU!!"  
  
"Oh, hah, you're going to MAKE me shut up now, are you?"  
  
"Oh, well, look, there's the hotel," Shigure pointed out, pointing across the street.  
  
"By the way, Shigure, how do you know which hotel to go to exactly?" Yuki asked.  
  
"Why, it's right next to her apartment building. It was even there when she was in high school and college."  
  
"How interesting," Yuki mused.  
  
"Like your face is gonna be," Kyo growled.  
  
"Don't worry, your face will be worse," Yuki countered as the three walked into the hotel  
  
Kyo and Yuki were still going at it as Shigure talked with the innkeeper. He turned around, and now his cousins were nothing but a rotating cloud of smoke. "Boys? Boys... Oh, boys..." He knew they weren't going to like this next one, but seemed to be his last choice. "Kyo-Kyo, Prince Yuki..."  
  
They both turned around.  
  
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!!!!!" Kyo screamed  
  
"Shigure, if you call me that again I'll cook dinner tonight," Yuki added.  
  
"R-right. I have the key to Kai-San's room. Are you ready to go, or would you like to make fools of yourselves again?" he asked with his usual smile.  
  
(AN: confrontational enough? ^_^ I like battle scenes, even if it is something as stupid as relatives have a brawl.)  
  
~~~  
  
Tohru and Kai finally shoved lunch into the oven. "Well, hopefully we won't burn it as bad as I've heard Yuki can," Kai said, straightening up.  
  
"Well, one good thing about Italian food is, you can always smell when it's done," Tohru explained.  
  
Kai let out a laugh. "Guess that's true."  
  
"Tohru...Shigure...Yuki? Princess Tohru..." They heard coming from the living room.  
  
"Oh, that sounds like Momiji!" Tohru exclaimed.  
  
"Who?"  
  
Suddenly, the kitchen door slammed open, and a boy with spiky gray hair, looked in. "Where's that stupid cat?"  
  
"He should be on his way back from town, Haru," Tohru explained.  
  
"You mean I've been looking for him all day and he's not even here?"  
  
"Tohru! There you are!" a smaller, blonde boy exclaimed, running in. "Who's your new friend?"  
  
"This is Kai. Kai, this is Momiji, he's the rabbit and Hatsuharu, he's the cow."  
  
"You know about the curse?!" Momiji asked, jumping up and down. "YAY!!" With that, Momiji leapt forward and gave Kai as much as a bone-crushing hug as he could.  
  
"Nothing happened," Hatsuharu said with a blink.  
  
"Cool!" Momiji squealed, hugging his new friend even tighter.  
  
"Nice to meet you too, Momiji," Kai said with a smile.  
  
"There you two are," a familiar voice said from the door. "Hatsuharu, do you know where you are now?"  
  
"Hai," the boy answered. "But, before I go, could you explain something to me?" he asked, pointing to Kai, who still had Momiji around her neck.  
  
"Hello, Hatori-San," Kai said with a wave.  
  
"Ha'ri, I didn't change," Momiji said, confused.  
  
Hatori shook his head. "You didn't change, Shigure didn't change, and no one knows why," he said taking his young cousin and setting him on the ground.  
  
"But she's not a Sohma," Haru said with a pensive look.  
  
"We didn't get it either," Kai admitted.  
  
"Ooo, what's that I smell?" Momiji asked. "It smells like...lasagna."  
  
"You've got a good nose, Momiji-Kun," Kai said with a chuckle.  
  
"Out of my way, Rat boy, I smell a cow!" Kyo's voice said from the front door.  
  
Haru gave a start and darted into the living room. Everyone went to the door to see what would happen.  
  
"Boys, take it-" Shigure was cut off as Haru punched Kyo and he flew...through the door and outside. "There goes the door again."  
  
~~~  
  
AN: I'm experimenting with color. I know it won't work with ff.net, but it should work with mm.org. we'll see... 


	4. Damsel in Distress

Chapter 4  
  
~~~~  
  
Damsel in Distress  
  
~~~~  
  
"Well!" Shigure started as everyone sat down for lunch after Kyo and Haru finished their fight for the time being. "We have the majority of the Mabudachi trio," (AN: sp? I watched the majority of FB in dub, then the rest with no sound ^^;;) he said, putting an arm around Hatori's shoulders. "And their damsel in distress," added, putting his other arm around Kai's shoulders. "Now all we need is----"  
  
"Don't---say---his---name," Yuki growled with a brooding air.  
  
"What's the matter, Yuki-San?" Kai asked.  
  
"Aya is Yuki's older brother by ten years," Shigure explained.  
  
"Oh, I should have noticed that."  
  
"I told you not to say his name," Yuki growled with an even more brooding air.  
  
"I should go get the rice balls," Tohru said, noticing everyone was finished. "I guess it's good that we made extra, ne, Kai-San?"  
  
"'Gure-San!" a disturbingly sing-song voice that was apparently right on cue said as its owner walked in. "How are you, dear cousin? The door was...gaping open, so I let myself in!" Ayame explained, spreading his arms, accidentally knocking Tohru into Kyo.  
  
Anji snapped out of his nap to the sound of a small explosion. That smell... Cat.  
  
"Kyo-Kun?" Tohru asked, looking at her friend whose hackles were visibly up.  
  
"Anji-Chan, that's Kyo-San!" Kai exclaimed.  
  
"Oh, dear," Ayame exclaimed. "I'm so clumsy...Oh, Kai-Chan, how have you been?" he asked, sitting ext to his friend giving her a friendly hug.  
  
"Dumb cat," Yuki mumbled. "Can't even dodge a falling girl."  
  
The dog slowly walked up to the flabbergasted cat, sniffed him for a little bit, and promptly fell back asleep.  
  
"Oh!" Tohru exclaimed. "The rice balls!" she added, walking out.  
  
"Oh, THIS is Anji?" Ayame asked, pointing to the sleeping dog.  
  
"Hai, Aya-Chan," Kai said with a nod. (AN: it fits him, ne?)  
  
"Oh, he's precious!"  
  
"You should have seen him when he was a puppy, he could fit in your palm, he was so tiny."  
  
"Now he's as tall as Momiji-Kun," Shigure pointed out to the side.  
  
"Even though he's really big, he's really sweet!" Momiji exclaimed, turning around and patting the dog on his head.  
  
Kyo glared at the ridiculously huge dog. "Dumb mutt."  
  
Everyone turned around when Kyo turned back into Kyo. He glared and grabbed his clothes, and walked out of the room.  
  
"Now who's the dumb mutt?" Haru asked, taking a sip of his tea.  
  
~~~~  
  
"Okay, lunch is over, we have to get back now," Hatori declared.  
  
"Aw, do we have to, Ha'ri??" Momiji whined. "Kai-Chan was about to teach me how to play go fish!"  
  
"Maybe some other time, Momiji-Kun," Kai said, patting his head. "If Hatori-San says you have to leave it must be for a good reason."  
  
"And I only got to have two rice balls!" he continued.  
  
"We can make some more the next time you come over, Momiji-Kun," Tohru explained  
  
"Okay! Nice meeting you, Kai-Chan!" he practically sang as he ran outside to wait for Hatori and Haru.  
  
Haru bowed. "Pleasure to meet you, Kai-San."  
  
"It was nice seeing you again, Kai-San," Hatori said as he followed his younger companions out the door.  
  
"Oh, I'd love to stay and chat with you more, 'Gure-San, Kai-Chan, but duty calls at the shop!" Ayame chimed in.  
  
"Hatori's the only one with a license, ne?" Kai asked.  
  
"Oh, no, whatever gave you that idea?"  
  
"He's flashing his headlights at you," Yuki said, lifting an eyebrow.  
  
"Why, he shouldn't be doing that, it's broad daylight outside!"  
  
Kyo leaned over to look out of the hole in the door. "Now Momiji's pounding on the horn."  
  
"Oh, but I'm having so much fun!" Aya whined.  
  
"Now, Haru's leaning on the horn and..." Yuki started but couldn't finish.  
  
Kyo let out a guffaw. "And winking at you, baka nezumi!" With that, he fell to the floor, laughing.  
  
"I suppose I really must get going then," Aya lamented as Hatori walked out of the car and dragged him out of Shigure's house by the collar. He grabbed the doorframe one last time to peek in. "Ja, Kai-Chan!"  
  
"Ja, Aya-Chan!"  
  
~~~~  
  
The next day, when Tohru, Kyo, and Yuki got home from school, Kai took out her easel and starting a project she needed to do in about three weeks. Deadlines were created only to torment her.  
  
"Hello, Kai-San," Shigure cheerfully said, walking up. "Oh, I hope I'm not intruding."  
  
"Oh, no, I can do two things at once, Shigure-San," she explained, taking out a pencil.  
The two launched into conversation, Kai working on her project, and Shigure, standing in the doorway.  
  
"Oh, I just remembered!" Tohru exclaimed running in...to Shigure.  
  
Kai turned around to see his dog form. Tohru blinked as her friend's eyes brightened.  
  
"You're so adorable! You're half the size of Anji!!" she squealed throwing her arms around the small black dog.  
  
'This must be the first time Kai-San has seen Shigure-San in his dog form,' Tohru thought with a smile. 'At least her reaction was positive...'  
  
Kai face-faulted as Shigure turned back to himself, and she still had her arms around him.  
  
"Ano...gomen ne, Shigure-San, I get carried away when it comes to dogs," Kai apologized, letting go.  
  
"Sh-Shigure-San?" Tohru asked, confused. "Are you crying...?"  
  
"I think you're adorable too, Kai-San!!" he exclaimed, returning the hug.  
  
Tohru and Kai both face-faulted.  
  
"Why wasn't I expecting that??"  
  
"Oh!" Tohru exclaimed, shielding her eyes as Shigure got dressed. "I forgot. I was talking with Hana-Chan and Uo-Chan today, and they said they wanted to sleep over again. Is it okay if they spend tomorrow night?"  
  
"Ano...as long as Hana doesn't read my novels, I'm fine with it, Tohru-Kun."  
  
"Do you mind, Kai-San?"  
  
"I don't mind. I'd like to get to know your friends, Tohru-San."  
  
~~~~  
  
"Hm," Kyo pondered aloud. "I wonder why you get along so well with people, but it's the opposite with dogs."  
  
Shigure had suggested he and Yuki walk Anji when they got home from school. But, Anji wouldn't budge when Yuki held the leash. Which was kind of strange after the dog's first reaction to Kyo's cat form.  
  
"Shut up, you don't know what you're talking about, baka neko."  
  
"Kuso nezumi."  
  
As the two argued, Anji sat on the trail and refused to budge. "What is it, boy?" Kyo asked.  
  
"Oh, right, like you know what he's saying," Yuki drawled sarcastically.  
  
"Yuki, Kyo," Haru's voice came from a side of the forking trail. "Thank God you two stopped right there, if you had any further we would have lost you."  
  
"Hey, you're pretty smart for a mutt," Kyo admitted, patting the dog's head.  
  
"He's laughing at me," Yuki growled.  
  
"Oh, right, like you know what he's saying," Kyo mocked.  
  
"Um, Kyo...Yuki...back to the subject at hand please?" Haru interjected.  
  
"WHAT DO YOU WANT?!" Kyo hollered.  
  
"Kisa said she wants to spend a little time with Tohru and meet Kai," he explained, letting his small cousin walk forward.  
  
"I've already got my things packed, so you don't have to worry..." the orange-haired girl said timidly. "Who's dog is that?"  
  
"This is Kai-San's dog," Yuki explained.  
  
"His name's Anji. And he's cooler than the rat will EVER be."  
  
Haru rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Later." With that he walked back the way he came.  
  
"He looks really nice," Kisa pointed out as she walked down the path to Shigure's house with her two older cousins. "What's Kai-San like?"  
  
"Actually, she's a lot like Honda-San, come to think of it," Yuki mused.  
  
"I don't know how I would describe her, but I like her dog," Kyo concluded with a nod.  
  
~~~~  
  
(AN: poor, poor, poor Shigure's house in general. Hana. Uo. Kisa. Ano...I don't think Tohru's room is big enough. Eh, we'll figure something out. @_@ TK-San, I love your story! ~^_^~ and it's okay if you didn't get Akito's age right, I don't like him anyway. Poor Aki-Chan. Oh! Sorry, poor Ghost. **shakes head** you know, only people who have read the story would have gotten that...) 


	5. Another Impromptu SleepOver

Chapter 5  
  
~~~~~  
  
Another Impromptu Sleep-Over  
  
~~~~~  
  
"So..." Uo started as she, Hana, Kyo, Yuki, Haru, Momiji, and Tohru walked out of school. "Who are these new people at your Shigure's house again? Yesterday, you said there was just one."  
  
"Oh!" Tohru piped up. "Kai-San is Shigure-San's friend from high school and college."  
  
"And Kisa is another cousin," Yuki added.  
  
"Sissy!" a familiar voice said as Kisa ran up to give Tohru a hug. "Are these your friends, Sissy?"  
  
"Oh, Kisa-Chan! You found her!" Kai said, walking the way Kisa had just come up. "Hope you don't mind if I brought Anji-Chan."  
  
"Nah, he's cool," Kyo said, ruffling Anji's fur.  
  
"Ah, something Orange-Top likes, huh?" Uo asked. "Is that a positive or a negative?"  
  
"I think that counts as a squiggle," her monotonous friend concluded.  
  
"Eh?" Kai asked, extremely confused.  
  
"Actually, Tohru seems to like Orange-Top, better make that a positive."  
  
"Oh, brother," Kyo muttered.  
  
"Kai-San, Kisa-Chan, this is Uotani Arisa and Hanajima Saki," Tohru explained. "Uo-Chan, Hana-Chan, this is Kaigara Gentou and Kisa Sohma."  
  
"Nice to meet you," Kisa said with a small bow.  
  
"I don't think we can all fit in our room, Kai-San," Tohru said with a sweat-drop.  
  
"We can all room in the living room, I guess," Kai said with a shrug. "Does anyone need to get anything from home before we go?"  
  
"Can I stay over too?" Momiji asked.  
  
"Sure, for a few hours, I don't think Shigure-San's house is big enough for four extra guests," Kai explained.  
  
"Haru can come over, too, and make it an even ten!" Momiji suggested.  
  
"That's not the point I was trying to get at...demo..."  
  
"A few hours won't be too bad," Haru commented.  
  
"We'll make some rice balls!" Tohru exclaimed.  
  
"And maybe I could teach you how to play Go Fish," Kai added.  
  
"Yay!"  
  
"I completely forgot!" Tohru said. "My part-time job! I'll see you in a few hours!" she finished, hurrying off.  
  
"Say hello to Papa for me!" Momiji hollered after her.  
  
"I will, Momiji-Kun!"  
  
"Your vibes tell good things about you, Kai-San," Hana declared out of the blue.  
  
"Ano...forgive me, I'm an artist, but what are vibes?"  
  
"Oh, you're an artist, I suppose you would call vibes an aura."  
  
"Don't worry about the interrogation, though," Uo assured her. "Tohru's like our little sister. We've been together through everything."  
  
"Completely understandable. That's the way Anji and I are, actually."  
  
"Your dog?" Haru asked.  
  
"I'm not exactly social. But, I've had Anji for two years now, and he's been like a defensive younger brother."  
  
"Tohru said you were friends with Shigure in high school and college," Uo explained.  
  
"How did you meet our happy novelist?" Hana continued.  
  
"I ran into him, actually," Kai answered.  
  
"What's wrong with the Prince, Orange-Top, and the Sophomore?" Uo asked, noticing Yuki, Kyo, and Haru seemed to be holding their breath.  
  
"Actually, I think I know where I'm going and know how to get there, and they thought it was funny. And apparently they thought it was rude to laugh in public," Haru lied, but not obviously, of course. After noticing the strange look from Uo and the strange vibes from Hana he said, "I have no sense of direction, don't mind me."  
  
"What are you doing here, Sophomores?" Uo asked.  
  
"Hatsuharu Sohma, nice to meet you," he said rather flatly.  
  
'Oh, man! Don't tell he's gonna go Black!' Kyo thought.  
  
'Not in public, please, Haru, stay White in public,' Yuki practically prayed.  
  
Yuki and Kyo mentally sighed in relief as Momiji jumped in. "And I'm Momiji Sohma!"  
  
"Heh, yeah, I think we've met you before," Uo explained.  
  
"Hm, the Sohmas seem to be a very large, traditional Japanese family. Many cousins that all attend the same school, and depending on the age, at the same time," Hana pondered.  
  
"Yeah, we're pretty old-fashioned," Yuki admitted.  
  
"Kai-San, may I hold Anji's leash?" Kisa asked.  
  
"Go ahead, Kisa-Chan," Kai said, handing her the leash  
  
Their conversation quieted down as they continued down the path. The Sohmas of the group noticed Kai was strangely distracted by something they were passing. Upon following her gaze, they found the Sohma Main House.  
  
"What's wrong, Kai-San?" Hana asked. "Something seems to be troubling you."  
  
She shook her head. "Nothing, Hana-San. I've just had a lot on my mind lately."  
  
~~~~~  
  
"Sorry I'm so late, Minna-San," Tohru greeted everyone, hurrying in. "Your Papa is very hard to track down, Momiji-Kun."  
  
"Oh, you found him?" Momiji asked, looking up from a four-way game of Go-Fish with Kai, Haru, and Kyo. Kai was proving, that in fact, she could do two things at once. While she was braiding the two longest strands of Kisa's hair into two small plaits, she had Kisa holding her hand of cards.  
  
"Kyo-Kun, is that as hard to play as rich man-poor man?" Tohru asked, setting her things down.  
  
"Not really, it's like mooching off your friends, and who hasn't done that?" he replied.  
  
"Momiji, do you have any threes?" Haru asked.  
  
"Go Fish!" Momiji nearly shrieked. "This is fun! It's like a new way to say no!"  
  
"I'm glad you like it, Momiji-Kun," Kai said with a laugh. "What do we have, Kisa-Chan? Hm, Kyo, do you have any kings?"  
  
"Of course your friends could also mooch off you," he added flatly, handing Kisa two cards.  
  
"Okay!" Shigure said, coming in. "How's the party going?"  
  
"No, Momiji, for the last time, I don't have any fives," Haru said flatly as a response.  
  
"The rice balls are ready," Yuki announced, walking in, carrying a tray of black snacks.  
  
"What did I tell ya?" Kyo asked Kai, motioning to the charred rice balls. "It's like a se---uh, some kind of course or something."  
  
"Here, Yuki, let me help you make another batch of rice balls," Tohru suggested, herding him into the kitchen before he could clobber Kyo.  
  
"I asked a question a minute ago, and no one answered it," Shigure announced rather dramatically.  
  
"Haru, do you have any---"  
  
"No fives, Momiji."  
  
"Fine, it's okay, you can ignore me, after all, I put this roof over your head and let you stay with no charge!" Shigure continued.  
  
"Oh!" Kai said, looking up. "Did you say anything, Shigure-San?"  
  
"Nothing of importance, Kai-San."  
  
"If you want, you can join us after this game..."  
  
"Don't mind me, I'll be over in a corner, sulking..."  
  
"If you don't want to you don't have to of course..."  
  
"Maybe I could give you some strategy advice, Kai-San!" he suggested, sitting next to her and Kisa.  
  
"Strategy in Go Fish?"  
  
~~~~~  
  
"I think the sophomore over here is cheating," Uo said, walking over to Haru.  
  
"Arisa..." Hana said, shaking her head.  
  
"Trust me. I'm not."  
  
"Then, what's this?" she asked, holding up a card that had apparently fallen from his books.  
  
"That's a card from my own deck."  
  
"It don't look like it, Sophomore," Uo countered.  
  
"I'm---not---cheating---Yankee."  
  
"Kai, do you have any Jacks?" Kyo asked. "My only Jack is BLACK!" he added with a scowl to Haru.  
  
"WHAT'D YOU SAY, YOU BRAINLESS CAT?!"  
  
"TAKE IT OUTSIDE!" Kai and Shigure shouted before their fight got out of control.  
  
"The Main House finally agreed to fix my door only if it's broken once a month!" Shigure added.  
  
"You just broke it yesterday!" Kai continued.  
  
"STOP ACTING LIKE @#$% NEWLY-WEDS!!!" Kyo screamed, sprouting cat ears.  
  
Shigure and Kai gasped. "How could he have figured it out?" Kai asked.  
  
"We eloped last night in secret, our secret is out!" Shigure added.  
  
"For cryin' out loud...."  
  
"Oh!" Momiji suddenly exclaimed. "I had all four of the fives all along!"  
  
~~~~~  
  
"Thank you for jumping in to save the day, Honda-San," Yuki said as Tohru got out the finished rice balls.  
  
"Oh, no, don't thank me!" Tohru said, waving her arms. "I should be thanking you for being so patient and waiting for me to come back."  
  
Yuki smiled as Tohru walked out the door with the rice balls. "I'll always wait for you, Honda-San."  
  
~~~~~  
  
(AN: that wasn't too mushy, was it? Wait, this is shojo. Gomen! This is my first shojo fic...) 


	6. Eyes

Chapter 6  
  
~~~~~~  
  
Eyes  
  
~~~~~~  
  
AN: glad to hear from my reviewers again ^_^ anyways, don't worry about introducing any of the Jyuunishi. I've watched all the anime at least twice @.@ long story. The only ones I would be missing, of course would be Kureno and Rin. I haven't read the manga and the anime completely ignores them. So I have yet to really understand them. Anyway, as soon as I'm done introducing all the Jyuunishi, I'll get into the plot. Yes, there's a plot. Right. Back to the chapter. :)  
  
~~~~~~  
  
"Hatori," Akito said as his cousin walked in and knelt down. "Who is this 'Kai' I've been hearing so much about?"  
  
Hatori gave a mental start. "She's an old friend, Akito-San."  
  
"Hm," Akito pondered as he walked over to his inferior. "That's what everyone else is saying as well. Heh. I know it's not the whole truth, though."  
  
Hatori knew Akito didn't like it when he didn't know something was happening without his knowledge. But, what would he do in a situation like this? True, Kai knew about the curse, but she was doing a better job of keeping it a secret than the Sohmas themselves. And this situation wasn't like Tohru's. What would he do?  
  
"You don't have to worry, though. I'll find the truth. I always do. You may go now."  
  
Hatori nodded and walked out. If he told him to erase Kai's memories, he'd have erase at least nine years. And also, if he had to erase her memories, this wouldn't affect just him, like the situation with Kana, but Shigure and Ayame would be crushed as well. Tohru and Kisa seemed to think of Kai as an older sister, and he was sure Yuki, Kyo, Haru, and Momiji wouldn't be too happy about it, either.  
  
If Akito knew the entire truth, he probably wouldn't know what to do, either.  
  
Hatori shook his head. He needed fresh air.  
  
~~~~~~  
  
Kai checked the grocery list as she headed out the door to make sure she wasn't forgetting anything. Hana and Uo seemed to be satisfied with their survey the night before. It was the next day and everyone was at school and she had decided to go grocery shopping on her way to pick up Kisa. She stopped and looked at the angle of the sun. Apparently, she had about half an hour to kill.  
  
"Hatori-San!" she called as she noticed her friend sitting on a park bench, seeming to be in deep thought. She walked over and sat next to him. "What's the matter? You look pale."  
  
"Akito asked about you today," he admitted, turning to her.  
  
"Oh," she said, hanging her head slightly. "I can see this is going to take a while," she added, setting her bag down.  
  
"He asked who you were and I told him you're an old friend. He said that all he knew. He also said he'd find out the entire truth eventually. Akito's not one to take lightly to anything he doesn't know about. It's been nine years since we've met you. I don't know how he would react. But...if he tells me to erase us from your memory....I would regret it, but I would have no choice."  
  
"I understand. But, if that does happen...would you take care of Anji for me?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
They sat in an awkward silence for half a minute before Kai spoke up again. "What else is bothering you?"  
  
He lifted his head and looked at her in confusion.  
  
"Something else in on your mind. And it has something to do...with your right eye."  
  
Hatori blinked. She always had a way of seeing through half truths.  
  
He slowly and almost reluctantly launched into the story of how he had met Kana, how they had fallen in love, and made plans to get married. And how eventually, Akito rejected the idea and nearly gauged out his right eye. And how, even after trying to convince her that it wasn't her fault, she still blamed herself, and Akito ordered her memories erased.  
  
"She's married now, and she's completely forgotten about us. But, we're over now, there's no reason to grieve if she's happy."  
  
"I'm sorry, Hatori-San!" Kai said, throwing her arms around his neck and burying her face his shoulder.  
  
"You don't have to apologize, Kai-San," Hatori said, trying to console her by putting his arms around her. "It's over now."  
  
"I should have been there for you! I should have at least tried to keep contact among us after college, but I completely ignored you three."  
  
"It's okay, Kai-San. We should have tried to keep contact with you, too."  
  
"Oh, look at me," she said, letting go. "I'm supposed to pick up Kisa from school in fifteen minutes," she added, wiping away tears.  
  
"I'll see you later, Kai-San," Hatori said, also letting go. "You shouldn't blame yourself for so much."  
  
"Hm, you're probably right. Before I go..."  
  
"Hm?"  
  
He blinked, taken aback as she pushed back his hair to see his right eye. She smiled. "Just as I thought. Still as pretty as the other. I won't blame myself as much, if you stop trying to cover your eye."  
  
"What?"  
  
She picked up her bag, stood up, and looked back at her friend. "I've always wanted eyes like yours, Hatori-San."  
  
He shook his head as she walked off. She also had a way on leaving him so confused.  
  
~~~~~~  
  
"Aunt Kai!" Kisa called, running up.  
  
"Kisa-Chan! How was school?"  
  
"Oh, it's just fine. Where's Anji-Chan? He usually walks with you, doesn't he?"  
  
"He decided to stay home and bother Shigure-San today. Oh, you decided to keep your hair in braids today?"  
  
"Yeah, I even got a few compliments on them."  
  
"Kisa, who's this?" a new voice asked. Kai looked over to see a boy with extremely fair hair and nearly emotionless brown eyes.  
  
"Oh, Hiro-Chan, this is Aunt Kai. I've told you about her, haven't I? She's Uncle Shigure's friend from school."  
  
"Hm, she looks just as boring as your other friend, that dumb chick, what was her name?"  
  
"Don't worry, you don't have to tell me I'm boring. I knew that already," Kai said with a laugh.  
  
"Oh, I almost forgot," Kisa said as the three walked down the street to the local high school. "Hiro-Chan is the Sheep."  
  
"Oh, another Jyuunishi."  
  
"Great, someone else who knows about the curse."  
  
"I knew about the curse before you could talk," Kai countered.  
  
"And Akito doesn't know about that?" Hiro asked.  
  
"I don't know if he knows or not."  
  
"Don't mind Hiro-Chan," Kisa said. "He doesn't like Akito-San."  
  
Kai nodded. "I understand."  
  
"Hey," Hiro piped up. "I've had a bad day at school. Get me something to eat."  
  
"I brought enough money to go grocery shopping I'm completely broke," Kai said, a little confused.  
  
"At least take me somewhere interesting!"  
  
"We're going to Tohru-San's high school if that's interesting enough..."  
  
"I came here to take Kisa home."  
  
"I'm staying at Uncle Shigure's house for a few days, Hiro-Chan," Kisa interjected. "It's really fun with Sissy and Aunt Kai."  
  
"Kai-San!!" Momiji practically sang as he ran down the street and gave Kai another semi-bone-crushing hug.  
  
"Glad to see you too, Momiji-Kun!"  
  
"What's wrong with you?" Hiro asked. "You're not a Jyuunishi. You're not even a Sohma. But...he didn't..."  
  
"Yeah, I know!" Momiji piped up. "Isn't it weird?"  
  
"What's weird?" Uo asked walking up with Hana and Tohru. "Kai may be nice, but don't think that would count as weird."  
  
"I mean it's weird that Anji isn't here with Kai-San," Momiji clarified.  
  
"Yeah, it's also weird that she's covered in paint," Kyo added, walking up.  
  
"She's an artist," Hana drawled. "It would only be natural. Wouldn't you think?"  
  
"Where's Yuki-Kun, Kyo-Kun?" Tohru asked.  
  
"He's busy being president of the student council," Kyo said, rolling his eyes.  
  
"Heh, what?" Haru asked. "Jealous because you can never amount to anything besides 'Kyo-Kyo'? Or 'Cat-lover'?"  
  
Kyo growled. "Midterms are about to come up. This is my senior year. Push me and die."  
  
"OH, YOU WANT ME TO **PUSH** YOU?!" With that, Kyo's face was met with Haru's fist. (AN: ouch. Haru went black in like five seconds and Kyo didn't know what hit him.)  
  
"Kai-San, what do you have in your bags?" Momiji asked as Kyo and Haru duked it out again. "It smells good."  
  
"Kami-Sama...I forgot I had groceries..." she said as the small blonde let go.  
  
"Haru! I think we should go!" Momiji called out.  
  
"Aw! I'm having so much fun!" he hollered back, as he tightened his grip in his head-lock.  
  
~~~~~~  
  
AN: okay, a little bit of plot development. Not much. But some. I still have to introduce Kagura and Ritsu. A few more chapters and this will actually have a bonifide plot! Alright! Anyway, the next chapter will most likely be my Christmas present to my reviewers ^_^ Feliz Navidad, mis amigos. 


	7. Feliz Navidad

Chapter 7  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
Feliz Navidad  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
"What the...?" Kyo asked walking in after school one day to find the house covered in...junk. He didn't know how else to describe it.  
  
"Kai-San, it's so festive!" Tohru exclaimed, giving her friend a hug.  
  
"You think so?" Kai asked. "Shigure-San and I have been working on it all day instead of working on our deadlines. Mii-San even chipped in before she left."  
  
"All in the spirit of the holiday," Shigure added.  
  
"What's with all the green and red stuff?" Kyo asked.  
  
"It's called Christmas, baka neko," Yuki said with an eye roll. "If you hadn't been secluded from society for so many years you'd know that."  
  
"How has your genealogy research been going, Kai-San?" Tohru asked.  
  
"Well, I'm almost to the bottom of the box."  
  
"Box?" Kyo asked.  
  
"Genealogy?" Yuki added.  
  
"You get your family history from a box?" they both asked.  
  
"Well," Kai started. "It was either a huge box my parents left me with or praying to dead family members."  
  
"Well, is there any mention of the Sohmas?" Shigure asked.  
  
"No, still no mention."  
  
"When is Christmas?" Yuki asked. "I haven't paid attention to the calendar lately."  
  
"A week," Kai and Shigure said with a sweat-drop.  
  
"What's the purpose of Christmas exactly?" Kyo asked.  
  
"You buy the people that are important to you presents," Kai explained.  
  
"And if you're a good boy, Santa will bring you something," Shigure added.  
  
"You don't think he'll...." Kai started.  
  
"What's he look like?" Kyo asked.  
  
Everyone else sweat-dropped.  
  
"That was intended as a joke, Kyo-Kun," Kai explained.  
  
Kyo shrugged it off and would have gone off somewhere if he hadn't felt a small kiss on his cheek. He slowly looked over in fear. "KAGURA?!"  
  
"Merry Christmas, Kyo-Kun!" she said cheerfully, holding a small plant over his head.  
  
"W-what's that?"  
  
"This is mistletoe! It's a tradition that whoever's standing under the mistletoe has to be kissed. And what a coincidence, you're standing under the mistletoe!"  
  
"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! YOU PUT IT OVER MY HEAD!!!"  
  
Everyone braced themselves as the brunette rolled back her sleeves and anger-knotted. "Oh, dear," she said, realizing what she was doing. "I promised myself I wouldn't do that."  
  
"EH?!"  
  
Kagura sighed. "Well, I've been thinking. If I'm in my second year college and I want to be a good wife for Kyo, I should at least learn to be more mature about my feelings."  
  
(AN: yes, I know she just went completely OOC there, but I always thought she and Kyo would make a cute couple if she were calmer.)  
  
"Good for you, Kagura," Shigure said with a smile.  
  
"I'm so happy for you, Kagura!" Tohru exclaimed, giving her a hug.  
  
"Don't people usually make self-revelations during New Year's?" Yuki asked.  
  
"The Sohmas aren't usual people, Yuki-San," Kai said, shaking her head. "You should know that."  
  
"Shigure-San..." a pathetic voice came from the front door the next day. The only people in the room---Shigure, Kai, and Tohru---looked in as a young woman walked in. "I'm terribly sorry to intrude in your festivities, but my mother says I should be more sociable. I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY!! I'M SORRY, SHIGURE-SAN, I'M SORRY, TOHRU-SAN!! AND I'M SORRY---I don't know who you are.I'M SORRY FOR NOT KNOWING WHO YOU ARE!! I DON'T DESERVE TO BE HERE, I'M SORRY!!"  
  
"Ri-Chan-San," Tohru said with a smile. "Merry Christmas! We're always happy when you visit!"  
  
"Oh," he said with a sniff. "You are?"  
  
"Of course we're not," Shigure said with a plastic smile.  
  
"You're not?! WELL, I'LL LEAVE RIGHT NOW! NO NEED TO WORRY ABOUT ME IN THIS WEATHER, IT WON'T BOTHER ME!!!" Ritsu declared, darting for the door.  
  
"Ri-Chan-San, don't leave, you just got here!" Tohru exclaimed, throwing her arms around her before she could get away. Shigure and Kai looked up at the familiar puff of smoke.  
  
"Talk about deceiving first appearances," Kai said with a blink.  
  
"Kai-San, this is Ritsu Sohma," Shigure said, shaking his head. "As you can see, he's the monkey. And he's also a bit insecure." (AN: the biggest understatement of the millennium...)  
  
Two days later everyone showed up at Shigure's house for name drawings of who got to buy who a present:  
  
Yuki would buy Tohru a present  
  
Tohru would buy Yuki a present.  
  
Kagura would buy for Kyo.  
  
Kyo would buy for Kagura.  
  
The Mabudachi and their Damsel in Distress would buy for themselves.  
  
Kisa for Hiro and vice versa.  
  
Kai and Tohru volunteered to buy for Ritsu.  
  
Ritsu volunteered to buy for everyone.  
  
Haru and Hatori would buy for each other.  
  
Ayame and Momiji.  
  
"Is this thing rigged or something?!" Kyo hollered. Everyone turned around to see Kai and Shigure looking away, whistling innocently.  
  
"Yuki-San, please?" Kai asked, the day before Christmas Eve.  
  
"I refuse to have anything to do with him," the silver-haired boy answered.  
  
"Please, Yuki-Kun?" Tohru added.  
  
"Honda-San, you should know why I won't have anything to do with him."  
  
"But, Yuki-Kun, he wants to get closer to you as a brother."  
  
"I'm sorry, Honda-San."  
  
"He's my best friend, Yuki-San."  
  
"More like girl friend."  
  
Kai shook her head.  
  
"Anyway, I'm sorry, but I just won't."  
  
Yuki blinked as both Tohru and Kai looked as if they were about to cry.  
  
"Not the puppy-eyes, Shigure does that enough as it is! Fine! I'll do it!"  
  
"Hey, Kyo!" Momiji happily greeted, walking up to his cousin. "Sign this!" he said, holding out a folded sheet of paper.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"A piece of paper, silly!"  
  
"Okay," he said with a shrug, scribbling his name down.  
  
"Kyo," Kisa said, later that day. "Would you mind reading something to me?"  
  
"Sure, what am I reading?"  
  
"A piece of paper."  
  
"Sure."  
  
"Just wait until that red light goes off..."  
  
(AN: either Kyo has a hard time saying no to kids, or he really is that dense)  
  
Finally Christmas came, and everyone went to Shigure's house.  
  
"What did you get, Tohru-San?" Kai asked. Before, they had drawn names to see who would go first.  
  
"Oh, it's a scrapbook!" she exclaimed, opening a box. "And a little charm bracelet with red butterflies. Yuki-Kun, you remembered my mom's nickname! Arigatou!"  
  
"A variety package of seeds for the base. Thank you, Honda-San."  
  
"I got a bear-claw necklace," Kyo said, holding up disembodied claws on a string.  
  
"I saw it and thought of you," Kagura said with a smile.  
  
Kyo blushed.  
  
Shigure opened his package. There was a sign that said "BEWARE OF DOGS." And one that said. "QUIET, ARTIST AT WORK." "What's this?" he asked, looking at the back of the dogs sign. "There's a switch." He switched it on and waved his hand in front of it. Everyone else but Kai, Hatori, and Ayame sweat-dropped as the sign...growled. "Thanks, minna!"  
  
"Kai-Chan picked them out, I paid for them, and 'Tori-San did the driving," Ayame said with a cheerful smile.  
  
"Hm," Kai said, picking up hers, which was the shape of an official envelope. She opened the paper and the envelope. After she read the documents, she started laughing.  
  
"What is it, Aunt Kai?" Kisa asked.  
  
"These say that Anji is a purebred husky AND a purebred wolf hound."  
  
"Merry Christmas, Anji-San," Shigure chimed, petting the sleeping dog.  
  
"We didn't know whether to get him one that said he was a purebred husky or a purebred wolf house, so 'Tori-San suggested we use both," Aya chimed in.  
  
"My turn!" Ayame exclaimed, reaching for his packages. "Hm, there's something attached to the card...  
  
'I, Momiji Sohma---at risk of my own life---, hereby declare "Yuki's Day of Romance" an international holiday.'  
  
Thank you, 'Miji-San!" he said, throwing his arms around his cousin.  
  
"You're welcome!"  
  
"There's something else," he noticed. Yuki winced. He opened the small box and opened a picture frame. "It's Yuki!"  
  
The strange thing about the frame, was it kept repeating in a very monotonous voice. "Aya, you're the best brother in the world. I love you, big brother."  
  
"I love you too, Otouto!" Aya exclaimed, nearly strangling his brother.  
  
"Ha'ri-San, your turn," Shigure said in a sing-song voice.  
  
Hatori bent down and picked up the smaller gift first. It was a green dragon mirror charm. (AN: um, you know, those things you hang up on your rear view mirror. And technically, he's the chauffeur of furuba.) "Thank you, Hiro."  
  
He opened the parcel and smiled. It was obviously from the Mabudachi. A small snow globe with a silver dragon in the middle. "Arigatou."  
  
Kisa blinked a picked up her own present and unwrapped it. "Thank you, Hiro-Chan," she said, holding up a tiger's tooth necklace.  
  
Hiro blushed and picked up the package from her. "Little Bo-Kisa?" he asked.  
  
"Kisa-San wrote it," Kai explained. "And she asked me if I would illustrate it for her."  
  
"Don't you like it, Hiro-Chan?" Kisa asked.  
  
"H-hai," he said with a smile.  
  
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no," Ritsu insisted. "I don't deserve it!"  
  
"Of course you do, Ri-Chan-San," Tohru said with her smile.  
  
"We bought it just for you!" Kai added.  
  
"Okay," he whimpered, unwrapping the present. "It's bubble bath. And a lot of it! Mother's been asking me about buying bubble bath!"  
  
"Okay," Haru said, bending down. "A gold chain and a silver chain." He looked to Hatori. "Why are there two?"  
  
"One for when you go Black," Hatori answered.  
  
"Okay."  
  
"Yay!" Momiji exclaimed, jumping down to his present. "Yay! Hand-puppets! There's a cow, and a mouse, and a tiger, and a rabbit---ooh! That's me!--- and a dragon, and a snake, and a horse, and a sheep, and a monkey, and a rooster, and a dog, and a boar, and a cat, and two rice balls! It's just like us!"  
  
"I didn't think anyone had that much lung capacity!" Kai exclaimed.  
  
"Who gave him sugar?" Hatori asked.  
  
Kagura laughed and picked up her gifts. She opened the envelope first. She read the letter with a sweat-drop. "This looks like something Shigure- sensei would write, but it's signed by Kyo-Kun..."  
  
"That was the 'piece of paper', was it Momiji?" Kyo growled.  
  
"There's another," she said opening the other. It was another talking picture frame. But this one said "I love you, Kagura." And it didn't repeat, like Aya's did. "Eh?"  
  
"Another piece of paper, courtesy of Kisa, this time," Kyo said, rolling his eyes.  
  
"Arigatou, Kyo-Kun," she said rather calmly. (AN: I'M SORRY SHE'S OUT OF CHARACTER!! I'M SUCH A BAD AUTHOR!! NOW I'M GETTING OUT OF CHARACTER AND ACTING LIKE RITSU!! I DON'T DESERVE SO MANY PEOPLE READING THIS!!!)  
  
Kyo suddenly got up and held out a gum-ball ring. She looked up with a blink. "I've been thinking. And, if you're gonna be mature about this...so am I."  
  
"Kyo-Kun?"  
  
"I know it's not much...but...will you marry me for real this time?"  
  
"Kyo-Kun, of course I will!" she nearly squeaked, giving him a hug.  
  
After the finally sat down, Ritsu dramatically rose. "I have a present for everyone for putting with me!" With that, he walked outside and back stumbled in brandishing a huge banner that read "GOMEN NE SAI, MINNA- SAMA!!!" Everyone sweat-dropped.  
  
"YOU DON'T LIKE IT?!" he asked, peeking over the top. "IT'S TOO BIG, ISN'T IT?! I MESSED UP AGAIN!! I'M, SORRY, I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY!! I'LL APOLOGIZE TO THE WORLD!! I'M SORRY TOHRU-SAN, BROTHER SHIGURE, BROTHER HATORI, BROTHER AYAME, KAI-SAN---!!"  
  
While Ritsu was running around the room apologizing to everyone and everything, Shigure turned on his "BEWARE OF DOGS" sign and held it up. The young man fainted to sound of large dogs growling. "Thank you, Kai- San, it really does work!" Shigure said, giving her a kiss on the cheek.  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
Feliz Navidad, Minna-San!!  
  
Prospero Año!!  
  
Merry Christmas, Minna-San!!  
  
Happy New Year!! 


	8. Corners

Chapter 8  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
Corners  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
AN: THIS YOU MIGHT WANT TO READ, DE GOZARU YO!! okay, you've been reading the fic thus far. Time for a contest! Sort of. I've developed the couples to be Yuki/Tohru, Kyo/Kagura, and Hiro/Kisa..........and that's about all that's definite so far. Now for the relevant part. Which do you think Kai would be paired with? I've developed her so far to be possible with Shigure or Hatori. So, guess and I'll give you.........a small insert role........a cinnamon roll.........an egg roll.........or.........hey! A rice ball from our favorite onigiri herself!.........it's your choice if you guess right! And the answer will be given in the next chapter. So, hurry and guess! Oh, and no fair guessing for my muses who already know!  
  
ANPS: I got a review from mm.org. and, yeah, I agree with you, Kai isn't too developed. YET. I promise as soon as I get these next few chapters out, she'll be as developed as she needs to be~! I swear on my stack of Rurouni Kenshin stuff! And I have a lot of that! Sorry for the long delay....  
  
ANPPS: I'm really glad with the way everyone's reacting to Anji! Bruno would be proud! (goes off to cry) great........now I can't breathe  
  
RANDOM NOTE: eh heh......I'm writing this while writing a Gravi fic...........and I think it's an unwritten law that if you're a guy and your name is Yuki, you automatically have millions of fangirls out of nowhere attack you at any given moment. (looks around) I like Yuki Sohma a WHOLE lot better than Yuki Eiri, though. (dodges flying objects from fangirls)  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
"Kyo-San?" Kai asked, climbing onto the roof. "Are you okay after that fight with Yuki-San today?"  
  
"Yeah," he snapped. "And you might as well go back inside, I won't be in there for a few hours at least!"  
  
"Kyo-San, it's snowing..."  
  
"Yeah, well it's really annoying when people come up here to check on me and all I want is to be left alone!"  
  
"Yeah? Well, you know what really annoys me?"  
  
"What?!"  
  
"A case of pneumonia! Here ya go!" she said, flinging the blanket she had brought with her on top of him.  
  
(AN: heh....I'm regretting that pneumonia comment now....)  
  
"Kami-Sama, you're worse than Tohru!"  
  
"Actually, Tohru had dinner to cook and she wanted me to come up here and check on you. So, Kyo-San..."  
  
"What is it now?!"  
  
"When's the wedding?"  
  
"Shigure had you come up here and ask me that, didn't he?!"  
  
"Nope. It was a random question that just decided to rear its ugly head."  
  
"I guess I could at least wait until she's out of college or something. Anything else?!"  
  
"Nandemo. Oh, New Year's Eve is tomorrow. Keep warm, you don't want to give everyone a disease at the banquet, do you?" With that, she jumped down and walked back inside.  
  
Kyo squirmed under the blanket as he heard the door shut. That was definitely a weird one.  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
Tohru turned from the stove when she heard the phone ring. "Moshi, moshi," she said.  
  
"Who is it, Tohru-San?" Kai asked walking in.  
  
"Ayame-San," the girl said with a sweat-drop as she handed the phone to her older friend.  
  
"Aya-Chan?" Kai asked, putting the phone to her ear. "Oh, there is? At the mall? Oh, that sounds fun! Maybe you can show me your shop too! Oh, of course I'll bring Tohru-San! Oh, Momiji-Kun wants to come too? And of course Hatori-San is driving...Yuki-San too?"  
  
"Okay," Shigure said, walking in, looking like he was about to cry. "I can stay here with Kyo...in a bad mood...working on my deadlines, like the good little writer I am...Go on, Kai-San, with the rest of the Mabudachi. I'll just be the odd man out this time."  
  
"Shigure-San, you can come if you want to. I'm quite sure Aya-Chan wouldn't mind."  
  
"Oh, no. I wouldn't want to intrude."  
  
"Well, alright," she said, hanging up. "Tohru-San, would you get Yuki-San and make sure he gets ready?"  
  
"No, wait!" Shigure suddenly shouted. "I mean...I wouldn't want to leave the Mabudachi so incomplete...and it's been a while since I've been to Aya-San's shop."  
  
"Okay, just...dress for the weather."  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
In about thirty minutes Hatori drove up. "This is going to be a problem."  
  
"Well, I think we could arrange a few things..." Tohru suggested. In a few minutes, everyone was piled into the small car.  
  
Shigure, Yuki, and Aya sat in the back seat. While Kai, Tohru, and Hatori sat in the front. And a transformed Momiji sat in Tohru's lap.  
  
After the car stopped in front of the mall, everyone stepped in front of the car's windows and waited for Momiji to change back and get dressed.  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
Akito smiled as he looked out on his estate. The truth would come out soon. He could feel it. Very soon...  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
"Alright," Hatori said as everyone met in the foyer of the mall. "Time to go."  
  
"But, Ha-San," Ayame whined. "I saw this gown that would be perfect for Kai-San!" he continued, taking his friend by the waist. "And one for Tohru- Chan!"  
  
"Five gowns per friend is enough," Hatori drawled, hefting four large shopping bags.  
  
"I suppose you're right, Ha-San," Shigure said with a shrug, carrying three of his own.. "The mall IS going to close in fifteen minutes."  
  
Ayame sighed. "Oh, well, it was fun shopping with you once before New Year's, Kai-San. I'll call you the day after the banquet and we can do this for the FIRST time of the year instead of the LAST!"  
  
"This was fun!" Momiji babbled as they walked down to Hatori's car. "Thanks for the good luck charm, Kai-San!"  
  
"Are you sure it was good to give him a rabbit's foot?" Hatori asked.  
  
"He asked for it when he found out what it was," Kai explained.  
  
"It's really neat to know that rabbits are good luck!"  
  
"This year is the year of the Dragon, Hatori," Yuki said as Hatori opened his car and everyone piled everything in the trunk.  
  
"Oh!" Aya piped up. "Ha'ri-San gets to dance!"  
  
"Too bad Kai-Chan won't be able to see it, though," Shigure lamented.  
  
Hatori sighed, shook his head, and got into the driver's seat.  
  
While he was driving back to Shigure's, Tohru noticed something. "Hatori-San, you can see your other eye."  
  
"Wow, Ha'ri, is it the wind or something?" a bunnified Momiji asked from Kai's lap.  
  
The driver took his eyes off the road for a second to glance at Kai. She was asleep. After putting up with Ayame and Shigure for so long, who could blame her? "Just a friend's suggestion."  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Sorry to leave you two like this..." Shigure apologized as he, Kyo, and Yuki headed out the door for the New Year's Banquet.  
  
"We'll be fine," Kai said with a smile.  
  
"We've got Anji-Chan, after all!" Tohru added.  
  
Yuki nodded with a smile and Kyo waved over his shoulder.  
  
Not fifteen minutes after the three left, there was another knock on the door.  
  
"Yes?" Tohru asked, opening the door. "Uo-Chan....Hana-Chan, what are you doing here?"  
  
"We would have called," Hana started.  
  
"But we know you'd say to go back home with our families," Uo finished.  
  
"You SHOULD be with your families!!"  
  
Hana smiled. "We've fixed that, too," she said, holding up a cell phone.  
  
"You know I live alone," Uo explained.  
  
"Megumi said he should call around fifteen minutes before midnight."  
  
"We have visitors?" Kai asked, looking in. "Oh, I was fixing some dinner for New Year's Eve."  
  
"I thought you said you couldn't cook, Kai-San," Tohru said, letting her friends in.  
  
"I hope I can at least stew cabbage and beans for luck...."  
  
(AN: hey, I know it sounds disgusting, but it's tradition where I live...)  
  
A few hours later, Tohru, Uo, and Hana decided to climb the roof to see the first sunrise, and Kai said she'd be there in a minute, because she had to clean up from dinner.  
  
Hana slowly blinked and picked up her small, ringing phone. "Right on time, Megumi," she said with a smile. "How is everyone?"  
  
While Hana talked with her brother, Uo leaned over and called through the house. "Kai?! What's taking so long?!"  
  
Kai and Anji walked out of the house, Kai had a very confused look on her face. "Minna-San...would you mind coming down here? I can't find anyway for Anji to be able to get up there."  
  
Uo let out a laugh. "Sure, just a minute!"  
  
After a few minutes of filing, playing pass-the-cell-phone-and- introduce-friends (AN: don't you hate that?!), everyone was sitting on Shigure's back porch, waiting for the sun to come up.  
  
"Five minutes until midnight," Tohru said, looking at her watch. "You know, I've heard it's good luck to have someone kiss you on New Year's Eve before the night's over."  
  
"Heh," Uo guffawed. "Good luck to any of us finding boyfriends!" she added sarcastically.  
  
Hana and Uo gave Tohru a defensive look, hoping she would spill something or another.  
  
"I've got an idea," Kai said with a smile. "Anji-Chan's a guy. He may be a dog, but he's still pretty kissable," she said with a wink.  
  
"And he's so cute!" Tohru practically squealed., rubbing his fur.  
  
Hana and Uo glanced from Anji to Tohru and Kai, then back again.  
  
Hana smiled. "Start the countdown, then Tohru-Kun."  
  
A few minutes of Tohru looking at her watch and announcing the time every now and then, it finally got down to seconds. "Three...two...one!"  
  
"Dogpile on the dog!" Uo shouted as the four gave their furry friend a New Year's greeting.  
  
After Uo and Hana left when the sun finally rose, Tohru turned to Kai. Was it her or did she just see her mother? No...maybe it was the lighting...or the color of Kai's hair? She smiled as she figured it out. She was able to give someone who had been in her situation a smile.  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
AN: WOW, THAT WAS A WHOLE LOT OF FILLER!! Okay, I'm done. Sorry if that last paragraph didn't make much sense... my mind is complete and utter mush. Probably from being so sick and being out of school every other week. Anyone got an extra immune system they'd like to donate? 


	9. Revelations

Chapter 9  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
Revelations  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
AN: yes, yes, I know that's the last book in the Bible, I've read it, actually, but this chapter is supposed to have a lot them....I got the guesses for the contest, and one vote for either pairing...Oi. And you're both right, there is a dog theme and an eye theme. Anyways, you'll find out who I paired her up with in this chapter pretty early on. Then, I'll announce prizes at the end of the chapter. But you'll have to wait...:)  
  
ANPS: oh, V-Chan, you're going into high school next year? Hm, cool, but I get graduate from high school this May! Happy, happy, happy....I'm graduating with 25 ½ credits and I only need 23! So I can fail as many classes as I want BWAHAHAHAHAHA!! No, I'm joking. Hm...when I get to college I think I'll major in Art, Spanish, and Anime. Nani? There's no anime course?! Curses! Oh, well, I'm sure it'll be fun anyway, ne? ^_^  
  
BTW: when this pairing is set up, you should read my friend's fic, "Zodiac" by Vera-Sama. She has an entire family of OC's and mine is the head of the family, **evil cackle** anyways, read it, enjoy it, review to it. There are only a few chapters, but a lot's happened already  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Kai-San," Shigure said as he, Yuki, and Kyo walked in after sanga- nichi (AN: the first three days of January). "Happy New Year!" Yuki and Kyo looked around.  
  
"Doesn't look too promising," Kyo spat.  
  
"If she's even up, she's probably wired," Yuki added.  
  
"And If she's asleep she'll be out for at least a day or five..."  
  
"Oh, come on, boys, stop being such pessimists!" Kai said, walking in. "I'll catch up on my sleep tomorrow."  
  
"Where's Honda-San?" Yuki asked, a little worried.  
  
"Cooking breakfast, would you like to help, Yuki-San?"  
  
Yuki put his coat on the rack and walked into the kitchen.  
  
Kyo let out an exasperated sigh. "I have a paper to write..." he grumbled, going into his own room.  
  
Shigure laughed at the two boys. "Love and...homework?"  
  
"The two rivaling elements of high school drama, I've heard," Kai said with her own laugh.  
  
"Wasn't that the way it was with the Mabudachi?"  
  
"No, the element there was fangirl riots. Homework was almost nominal," she smiled at her friend. "I'm almost done with my project for my editor. A new up-and-coming manga author wants me for an artist and wants to see some sketches."  
  
"Oh, I hope he likes them, Kai-Chan. Good luck," Shigure said with a bright smile as he walked out of the room into his office. "Mii-San!" his voice came from the room. "Happy New Year!"  
  
"DON'T YOU 'HAPPY NEW YEAR' ME!!"  
  
Kai let out a small chuckle. After all these years, he had finally called her "Chan".  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
About nine years earlier, when the Three Musketeers had met their Damsel in Distress, they had decided to go on an expedition to the local book lender. To prevent any harm to their group by the evil villain collaboration of...Finals. Okay, okay, so they went to the library to study for finals.  
  
They were sitting at a table that easily seated four, working on the classes they thought would cause them the most grief during the testing.  
  
For some reason, Kai started to hunch her shoulders and lean into her book.  
  
Her three companions looked up from their studies to see small groups of girls standing around, muttering back and forth to each other, shooting glances at the quartet.  
  
"What does Gentou think she's doing?"  
  
"Yeah, who does she think she is, hanging around with the Sohmas?"  
  
"Hm...I didn't think she was like that...She's a little—"  
  
Before the girl could finish her sentence, Shigure shot out of his chair, shadowing his eyes and slamming his hands on the table. After a few seconds of awkward silence from the Mabudachi and shocked silence from the fangirls, Kai peeked over her book to look at her friend. "Shigure-San?"  
  
Shigure looked around and realized he didn't have anything to say in Kai's defense. But, a light bulb went off. Of course! That would make amends for what the girl was about to say and would most likely get them to leave Kai alone!  
  
Hatori and Ayame were glaring darts at the girl who about to slander their friend. Kai stood up. "I...I'm going home, sorry to leave so early, Minna-San. I'm apparently not wanted," she said in a cracking voice. "Good luck on your exams," she said, turning to leave.  
  
If she left now, that would ruin his plans. Wait! He was Shigure Sohma! Nothing ruined his plans! He left the table, completely ignoring his things and went to Kai's side, taking her arm. Before he knew what he was doing or why, he leaned over and gave her a kiss.  
  
The entire library went very, very silent.  
  
He pulled away to see Kai's face grow redder than her hair.  
  
Shigure gave his friend a warm smile. "You can't leave without an escort, my lady," he said walking her out.  
  
"What's the matter, Kai-San?" Shigure asked. For some reason, Kai hadn't said a word since leaving the library. "Is it what that girl said?"  
  
She shook her head. "No, it's just...no one's ever rushed to my defense like that..."  
  
He gave her another smile. "Don't worry, it's my pleasure."  
  
~~~~~~~~~ (AN: tee hee....I like writing in Shigure's POV ^_^ he's fun to play in rpg's too...)  
  
"Tohru-Kun, how are you?" Shigure asked as he walked in from an important engagement.  
  
"Oh, Shigure-San, you're in a suit again!" Tohru said from the stove with her smile on her face as usual. "Just fine. Kyo-Kun wanted to order out tonight and Yuki-Kun wanted onigiri on the side."  
  
"That's good," he said, shaking his umbrella out the back door and setting it against the wall to dry. "It's been raining cats and dogs since I left..." he said with a laugh.  
  
"Ano...Shigure-San..." Tohru said with a concerned tone. "Kai-San went to our room to research her family history a few hours ago and....she hasn't said anything or come down since then, maybe you should check on her. Anji- Chan's been worried, too."  
  
"Kai-San?" he asked, after he had hung his jacket on a hook and walked up to her and Tohru's room. "Kai-San? Are you alright?" he asked, slowly sliding the door open.  
  
No one was there.  
  
He went through the house, calling her name.  
  
No one answered.  
  
Yuki hadn't seen her and Tohru had already given her account and, of course, Kyo was asleep next to the front door. Maybe she was sitting on the front porch?  
  
He opened the door and called her name again  
  
"Shigure, shut up, I'm trying to sleep..." Kyo grumbled, rolling over onto his other side.  
  
"Kyo, have you seen Kai?" he asked, turning from the door.  
  
"Yeah. She left about five minutes ago. She said she was going for a walk and I told her to be careful because it looked like rain."  
  
"Baka! It's been raining since I left!"  
  
The orange-haired boy shook his head and sat straight up. "It has?! Ah, man!"  
  
Shigure looked around. He didn't have time to put on shoes! What was he thinking!? "Anji!" he said as the dog ran in. "Do you know where Kai-San is?"  
  
Before Shigure even finished his question, the dog sprinted out the door. "Kyo! Tell Yuki and Tohru I'll be back! And don't you follow!" he said, running after the dog.  
  
While Shigure and Anji were running through the thick forest...he couldn't help but wonder...what could have made Kai so...emotionally unstable that she'd want to leave?  
  
After about what seemed like hours of running, the two finally found her walking away, completely drenched.  
  
Shigure sped up and ran in front of her, taking her by the shoulders. "Kai- San, what's the matter?!"  
  
His friend slowly looked up at him, then looked away. "I don't..." she started, hanging her head. "I don't deserve to know you, Shigure- San...you...Tohru-San...any of the Sohmas...I don't even deserve to know my own dog..."  
  
"Kai-San...what are you talking about?" he asked, trying to make his voice sound a little softer.  
  
"I found the last scroll of my genealogy..."  
  
"What did it say?"  
  
(AN: okay, I was going to save this for until she had talked to Akito, but there's a bigger plot for that one...sorry, Beth-Chan)  
  
She looked up at him and turned all the way around and stared at the ground...and reluctantly started explaining.  
  
"It's all my fault...my family was the one that put the curse on the Sohmas. After that I...don't deserve to know any of you. Especially not Kyo-San or Akito-San. I'm sure they've suffered the most out of this."  
  
After she was done, Anji walked up to her and started to prod her back to Shigure's house, but she just stood there.  
  
"Kai-San...why would you think we'd hate you after that?" Shigure asked, walking around to face her again. "If anything, I don't deserve to know you, but I'm glad that I do."  
  
The red-haired woman just covered her face with her hands and started to cry  
  
Shigure smiled sadly, took her in his arms, and stroked her hair until her shoulders stopped shaking. "Are you ready to go back home?" he asked. No answer. "You really didn't get much sleep last night, did you?"  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
"You do realize you deserve to have the soup beat out of you..." Yuki muttered as he, Kyo, and Tohru stood on the front porch waiting for Shigure to get back.  
  
"Shut up, rat boy, I was half asleep!" Kyo exclaimed. "I just thought it was about to rain or something! I don't know!!"  
  
All of a sudden, Tohru piped up. "I think I see something! Anji- Chan! There's Shigure-San and Kai-San!" she said, grabbing Shigure's umbrella and running over to them.  
  
"If he has to carry Kai-San, I should get some tea ready," Yuki said, turning to go inside.  
  
"Naw, you'd just evaporate it, I'll fix the tea..." Kyo growled, walking in.  
  
"Shigure...is she alright?" Yuki asked as Shigure and Tohru walked up.  
  
"She has a fever. A few nights rest...maybe a check up from Hatori or two...she should be fine."  
  
"What made her run off like that?"  
  
"I'm not sure she'd want me to tell you..."  
  
"Is the anything I could do?" the boy asked, following Tohru and Shigure in, closing the door.  
  
Shigure turned around..."Let Anji in," he said with a smile. "I'm he'd want to see her safe."  
  
"But he's soaking wet."  
  
"So am I..."  
  
"He's a soaking wet dog."  
  
Shigure shook his head before answering and starting up the stairs. "So am I..."  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
(AN: yes, I know, more slap-you-in-the-face symbolism...but hey....what can I say? I'm not too good with so-vague-you-can-hardly-see-it symbolism. Anyways, yup, you got the guess right, V-Chan, you've already gotten your prize ^_^ she'll come up in the next chapter or two. TK-San, you still get something, if you want it...you're one of my constant reviewers, too ^_^ ...do you have anything you want to happen as far as plotlines? I have pics and a scanner...and two volumes of the manga ^_^ just tell me...and update on your fic!) 


	10. What's Next

Chapter 10

What Next?

"Good morning!" Shigure said with a smile as Kai woke up with a headache. "Heh, welcome back to the world of the living."

He leaned forward after she sat up and pressed a hand to her forehead. "Hm, you still have a fever…" he concluded with a smirk. "But not to worry! Yuki-Kun called Haa-San and from his reaction, Aya-San's coming as well."

"What about—"

"Anji's had a bath and is currently curled up behind the door, drying off. Kyo fixed you some green tea and Tohru-Kun made you some soup for dinner."

Kai held her throbbing head as the door cracked open. "Shigure? Is she awake?"

"Kyo-San?"

"Kami-Sama," the red-haired boy muttered as he walked in. "Thought you'd never wake up…" He walked over to an empty dresser and poured some tea. "Listen…" he started as he prepared the tea. "I'm…sorry for being so stupid when you left. I don't like bad weather and…"

"No, it's my fault," Kai said, shaking her head. She had to tell him…she was the reason he turned into a demon. "Kyo-San, I recently found—"

"Nah, Tohru found the scroll and rat boy can read kanji," Kyo said, handing her a cup of tea. "We all know."

"I'm sorry, Kyo-San."

He shook his head as he let Anji in and started out. "I've learned from first-hand experience, you can't blame yourself for something your ancestors did four hundred years ago." He looked back once more. "Just get better and we'll call it even," he finished as the door clicked shut.

"See?" Shigure said with a smile. "Your friends wouldn't blame you."

Kai shook her head. "Not my friends. My family," she said with a smile as she took a sip of tea. She set the cup on the dresser. "If this were a case of friends, I don't think Kyo-San would be so forgiving." She smiled and scratched behind Anji's ears as the dog wagged his tail in relief to see her safe.

"Kai-Chan!!"

Both Shigure and Kai blinked as a red-and-silver blur shot through the door.

"I was so worried about you!!" Ayame exclaimed, jumping on Kai's bed and throwing his arms around her neck.

Hatori shook his head as he walked in. "Ayame, the 'cold' excuse won't work this time. Let Kai—"

Shigure shook his head, cutting him off before he could finish.

Hatori nodded and began to set his things us as Kai and Ayame cried on each other's shoulders. "I think this is one of the times Ayame is proud of Yuki simply because he can read kanji."

Ayame pulled away with a smile. "I'm sorry…I didn't mean to break down on you like that." He shook his head and wiped away tears. "But when Tohru called last night and said you had gone missing…I was so worried I couldn't sleep. I thought the Mabudachi had lost its Damsel in Distress…again."

"None of us could sleep," Hatori said, taking her temperature. "You have a fever…but nothing a few days of rest and liquids couldn't fix." He stepped back and actually smiled. "Momiji, Kisa, Haru, and even Hiro are all waiting down stairs. I told them they could come up when I was done with the check up."

"Hm…" Shigure pondered, looking around the room. "I have the perfect remedy to cheer you up, though…"

"How did she look, Kyo-Kun?" Tohru asked downstairs.

"Is she okay?" Kisa asked.

"She died after laying eyes on you, didn't she, baka neko?" Haru asked with a smirk.

"Shut up, you stupid cow!!" Kyo shrieked. "She's awake, but Shigure still hasn't given any permission for visits yet."

"That hasn't stopped you before, numbskull…" Hiro chimed in.

"She's awake?!" Momiji repeated. "Yay!! We should go up there and have a huge round of go-fish!"

Yuki rolled his eyes and sighed. "Hatori said not to go upstairs until he said it was okay."

"But Ayame and Shigure are up there…" Kyo said with a quirked eyebrow.

"Shigure was already up there and Ayame….apparently had a race with Hatori and won…" Yuki said with a head shake.

"YUKI-KUN!!" Shigure's voice rang from upstairs. Two seconds later, Shigure looked at all the people in front of his door. "I didn't know we had so many people who answered to the name of Yuki around here…"

"What is it already?" Yuki demanded flatly.

Shigure gasped. "Yuki-Kun, you…you…you have…you have…"

"WHAT?!"

The black-haired man covered his face and opened the door. "You have a sister."

"Oh, brother…" Kyo muttered.

"You're so pretty, Ayame-San!!" Tohru squealed, running in.

"Thank you…" Ayame said with a sweeping bow, showing off his…(her?)…new look. Which included: his hair braided into pigtails, bright pink blush all over his face, a complete nail job, mascara, and eye shadow.

"How did you do that so fast?!" Haru asked, a tad bit flabbergasted.

"Heh, heh…" Shigure said from the corner.

Ayame burst out into a fit of giggles.

"Ano…" Kai said slightly nervously.

Hatori muttered something inaudible.

"What was that, Ha'ri?" Momiji asked

"I helped…."

Kai let out a small laugh. "The braids remind me of when he was in high school."

"Kai-San, are you okay?" Tohru asked with an extremely concerned look as she walked up followed by Kisa and Hiro.. "I was so worried I cooked a five course meal and cleaned the whole house spotless!"

The red-haired woman blinked. "Oh, that's right you do cook and clean when you're nervous, don't you? I'm sorry, Tohru-San. I didn't mean to worry you like that…"

"Aunt Kai…" Kisa started nervously. "My mom said it would be okay if I stayed the night here…can I sleep in here with you and Nee-Chan?"

"I'd love that Kisa-Chan. But…"

"I'm afraid you and Tohru would have to stay in the living room while Kai recovers. Her condition may not be serious, but she's still contagious," Hatori explained, being every bit the concerned doctor.

"Sorry, Kisa-Chan…"

"No, that's okay, I understand," Kisa said with a smile.

"I wanna stay the night, too!!" Momiji whined. "You guys never let me stay the night!!"

Yuki and Kyo's faces both flattened at the same time. Yuki wasn't about to let Momiji stay in his room and Kyo wasn't about to sleep on the roof that Momiji was wandering around under. Sometimes the rabbit could be worse than a little brother.

"I'm sorry, Momiji, but I don't think Akito is in the mood to let anyone out of his sight right now…"

Everyone fell silent. Akito. Hatori and Momiji both had to get by him to get out of the main house at least, so he definitely knew about Kai's family history. So…what would happen next?

AN: uh…honestly, I don't even know, that scene will have to play itself out as soon as we get to it. might take a few chapters. Well, how are you liking it after that nasty semi-cliff-hanging chapter? How are you liking THIS semi-cliff-hanging chapter? Don't forget to review, thankies!!


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